The education system in bangladesh

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized. The government
of Bangladesh operates many schools in the primary, secondary, and
higher secondary levels. It also subsidizes parts of the funding for
many private schools. In the tertiary education sector, the government
also funds more than 15 state universities through the University Grants
Commission.

Bangladesh conforms fully to the Education For
All (EFA) objectives, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and
international declarations. Article 17 of the Bangladesh
Constitution provides that all children between the ages of six and ten
years receive a basic education free of charge.

Tertiary
education in Bangladesh takes place at 34 government and 54 private
universities. Students can choose to further their studies in
engineering, technology, agriculture and medicine at a variety of
universities and colleges.

At all levels of schooling, students
can choose to receive their education in English or Bengali. Private
schools tend to make use of English-based study media while
government-sponsored schools use Bengali.

Cadet colleges are
important in the education system of Bangladesh. A cadet college is a
special type of school-cum-college established in East Pakistan on the
model of English public schools. Military education is compulsory at
cadet college. The government of Pakistan established the first
residential cadet college in the Punjab in 1954. Faujdarhat cadet college was the first cadet college in East Pakistan (Bangladesh), established in 1958 over an area of 185 acres (0.75 km2) of land at Faujdarhat in the district of Chittagong. At present there are 12 cadet colleges in Bangladesh.

The Madrasah Education System
focuses on religious education, teaching all the basics of education in
a religious environment. Islamic teachings are compulsory. Religious
studies are taught in Arabic and the children also usually serve the relatedmosques.
Students also study some or all of the courses from the General
Education System. Madrasahs take in many homeless children and provide
them with food, shelter and education, e.g. Jamia Tawakkulia Renga Madrasah in Sylhet.

The
Technical and Vocational Education System provides courses related to
various applied and practical areas of science, technology and
engineering, or focuses on a specific specialized area. Course duration
ranges from one month to four years.

Tertiary education in Madrasah Education System
In
Madrasah Education System, after passing 'Alim' (12th Grade), student
can enroll in for 3years long study, for obtaining a 'Fazil' level (14th
Grade)as well as they can go for further general education like earning
all over the universities degree, And after passing successfully they
can further enroll into another 2 years long study system to obtain a
'Kamil' level (16th Grade) degree.

Tertiary education in Technical Education System
In
the Technical Education System, after obtaining Diploma-in-Engineering
degree (four years long curriculum), students can further pursue their
educational carrier for obtaining a Bachelor degree from Engineering
& Technology Universities, which offer two and a half to three year
long courses for students with a Diploma-in-Engineering degree, to
obtain a Bachelor degree (undergraduate degree) (16th Grade) in
Engineering. Then they can enroll into post-graduate studies.

Educational management
The
overall responsibility of management of primary education lies with the
Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED), set up as a separate
division with the status of a Ministry in 1992. While the PMED is
involved in formulation of policies, the responsibility of
implementation rests with the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE)
headed by a Director General.

The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and its subordinate offices in the district and upazila are
solely responsible for management and supervision of primary education.
Their responsibilities include recruitment, posting, and transfer of
teachers and other staff; arranging in-service training of teachers;
distribution of free textbooks; and supervision of schools. The
responsibility of school construction, repair and supply of school
furniture lies with the Facilities Department (FD) and Local Government
Engineering Department (LGED). The National Curriculum and Textbook
Board (NCTB) are responsible for the development of curriculum and
production of textbooks. While the Ministry of Education (MOE) is
responsible for formulation of policies, the Directorate of Secondary
and Higher Education (DSHE) under the Ministry of Education is
responsible for implementing the same at secondary and higher education
levels. The NCTB is responsible for developing curriculum and publishing
standard textbooks.

Primary and secondary level management
The
primary and secondary levels of education are controlled by the seven
General Education Boards, each covering a region. The boards'
headquarters are located in Barisal, ComillaChittagong, Dhaka,Rangpur,Jessore, Rajshahi and Sylhet . In addition, the Madrasah Education Board covers religious education in government-registered Madrasahs, and the Technical Education Board controls technical and vocational training in the secondary level.

Seven
region-based Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) are
responsible for conducting the two public examinations, SSC and HSC, in
addition to granting recognition to non-government secondary schools.

At
the school level, in the case of non-government secondary schools,
School Management Committees (SMC), and at the intermediate college
level, in the case of non-government colleges, Governing Bodies (GB),
formed as per government directives, are responsible for mobilizing
resources, approving budgets, controlling expenditures, and appointing
and disciplining staff. While teachers of non-government secondary
schools are recruited by concerned SMCs observing relevant government
rules, teachers of government secondary schools are recruited centrally
by the DSHE through a competitive examination.

In government
secondary schools, there is not an SMC. The headmaster is solely
responsible for running the school and is supervised by the deputy
director of the respective zone. Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs),
however, exist to ensure a better teaching and learning environment.

Tertiary education management
At
the tertiary level, universities are regulated by the University Grants
Commission. The colleges providing tertiary education are under the
National University. Each of the medical colleges is affiliated with a
public university. Universities in Bangladesh are autonomous bodies
administered by statutory bodies such as Syndicate, Senate, Academic
Council, etc. in accordance with provisions laid down in their
respective acts.Technical and Vocational education management
The
Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) is responsible for the
planning, development, and implementation of technical and vocational
education in the country. Curriculum is implemented by BTEB.

There are Non-Governmental Schools (NGO) and
Non-Formal Education Centers (NFE) and many of these are funded by the
government. The largest NFE program is the much reputed BRAC program.
However, all NFE graduates do not continue on to secondary school.

NGO-run
schools differ from other non-government private schools. While the
private schools operate like private enterprises often guided by
commercial interests, NGO schools operate mainly in areas not served
either by the government or private schools, essentially to meet the
educational needs of vulnerable groups in the society. They usually
follow an informal approach to suit the special needs of children from
these vulnerable groups.

Similarly, in NGO-run schools there does
not exist any SMC. The style of management differs depending upon
differences in policies pursued by different NGOs. Some are centrally
managed within a highly bureaucratic set-up, while others enjoy
considerable autonomy.

Different NGOs pursue different policies
regarding recruitment of teachers. Some prepare a panel of prospective
teachers on the basis of a rigorous test and recruit teachers from this
panel. Other NGOs recruit teachers rather informally from locally
available interested persons.

Current status
This
section requires expansion.Current government projects to promote the
education of children in Bangladesh include compulsory primary education
for all, free education for girls up to grade 10, stipends for female
students, a nationwide integrated education system and a
food-for-education literacy movement. A large section of the country’s
national budget is set aside to help put these programs into action and
to promote education and make it more accessible. Recent years have seen
these efforts pay off and the Bangladesh education system is strides
ahead of what it was only a few short years ago.ConcernsThe educational system of Bangladesh faces several problems. In the past, Bangladesh education was primarily a British-controlled,
upper-class affair with all courses given in English and very little
being done for the common people. The Bangladesh education board has
taken steps to leave such practices in the past and is looking forward
to education as a way to provide a poverty-stricken nation with a
brighter future. Bangladesh has one of the lowest literacy rates in South Asia. One study found a 15.5% primary school teacher absence rate.[1]

The low performance in primary education is also matter of concern. School drop-out rates and grade repetition rates are high.[2] Poor
school attendance and low contact time in school are factors
contributing to low level of learning achievement. Further, the system
lacks a sound Human Resource Development and deployment system[3] and
this has demoralized the primary education sector personnel, including
teachers, and contributes to poor performance. Poverty is a big threat
to primary education.